Dispatching vehicle-to-grid ancillary services with discrete switching

ABSTRACT

Techniques for controlling dispatch of electric vehicles (EVs) to perform vehicle-to-grid regulation of power of an electric grid are presented. An aggregator component can individually control transitioning respective EVs of a set of EVs between a charging state and a not-charging state. The aggregator component includes a dispatch controller component (DCC) that can employ a defined dispatch algorithm for EVs to facilitate enabling the DCC to perform unidirectional regulation. The DCC can switch EV charging stations on and off using remote switches to meet a system regulation signal. The DCC can use the dispatch algorithm to make determinations regarding which EV to switch using charging priorities, in accordance defined power regulation criterion(s). The aggregator component can reduce communication signals used to adjust dispatch by sending switching signals to only those EVs of the set of EVs that are changing their charging state at a given time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to each of,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/720,508, filed on May 22, 2015, andentitled “DISPATCHING VEHICLE-TO-GRID ANCILLARY SERVICES WITH DISCRETESWITCHING,” which is a continuation of, and claims priority to each of,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/490,708 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,054,532), filed on Jun. 7, 2012, and entitled “DISPATCHINGVEHICLE-TO-GRID ANCILLARY SERVICES WITH DISCRETE SWITCHING,” whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/606,071, filedMar. 2, 2012, and entitled “DISPATCHING VEHICLE-TO-GRID ANCILLARYSERVICES WITH DISCRETE SWITCHING,” the entireties of which applicationsare hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Electric vehicles (EVs) potentially can provide valuable services to autility grid through vehicle-to-grid (V2G). In order to take advantageof V2G services, aggregators of EVs attempt to schedule and dispatchlarge groups of EVs in accordance with market rules. There have beennumerous studies looking at aggregator scheduling algorithms. However,there has been relatively little work on algorithms relating to theactual dispatch of EVs.

Conventional dispatch uses incremental dispatch for the dispatching of agroup of EVs. However, incremental dispatch of a group of EVs can havedeficiencies due to more expensive charging station costs and/or highcommunication overhead. The above-described background is merelyintended to provide a contextual overview of scheduling and dispatchinggroups of EVs in relation to a utility grid via V2G, and is not intendedto be exhaustive.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects of thisdisclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects.This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects,and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements nordelineate the scope of such aspects. Its purpose is to present someconcepts of this disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to themore detailed description that is presented later.

The disclosed subject matter can include an aggregator component thatcan individually and/or discretely control transitioning (e.g.,switching) respective electric vehicles (EVs) (e.g., plug-in electricvehicles (PEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)) of a set(e.g., an aggregated group) of EVs between a charging state and anot-charging state. The aggregator component can comprise a dispatchcontroller component that can employ a defined dispatch algorithm forEVs that can facilitate enabling the dispatch controller component toperform unidirectional regulation of power in relation to a utility grid(e.g., electric power grid). The dispatch controller component, usingthe defined dispatch algorithm, can switch EV charging stations betweenan on state and an off state (e.g., an on or charging state, off ornot-charging state) using remote switches to meet a system regulationsignal. The dispatch controller component can use the defined dispatchalgorithm to make determinations (e.g., decisions) regarding which EV(s)of the set of EVs to switch (e.g., switch to a charging state, switch toa not-charging state) using charging priorities, in accordance with oneor more defined power regulation criterion. The defined dispatchalgorithm can allow for less expensive and/or complex infrastructure anda significant reduction in the required communications signals, ascompared to conventional dispatch systems and methods. Simulations of anexample implementation of the disclosed subject matter, using thedefined dispatch algorithm, for a group of 1000 EVs in the ElectricReliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system over a 24-hour period verifythe improved performance of the defined dispatch algorithm, disclosedherein, over conventional incremental dispatch algorithms.

The disclosed subject matter can include a system comprising anaggregator component that aggregates and manages charging of a set ofEVs associated with an electric grid. The system also can include adispatch controller component that controls switching of at least asubset of EVs of the set of EVs between an on state and an off state ata given time, based at least in part on respective priority levels ofrespective EVs in the set of EVs.

The disclosed subject matter also can include a method, comprisingaggregating, by a system including at least one processor, a set of EVsassociated with an electric grid to facilitate charging of respectiveEVs in the set of EVs. The method also can comprise controlling, by thesystem, switching of at least a subset of EVs of the set of EVs betweena charging state and a not-charging state at a given time, based atleast in part on respective priority levels of the respective EVs in theset of EVs.

The disclosed subject matter further can comprise a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing computer-executableinstructions that, in response to execution, cause a system including atleast one processor to perform operations, comprising: aggregating a setof EVs associated with an electric grid to facilitate charging ofrespective EVs in the set of EVs; and controlling transitioning of atleast a subset of EVs of the set of EVs between a charging state and anot-charging state at a given time, based at least in part on respectivepriority levels of the respective EVs in the set of EVs.

The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detailcertain illustrative aspects of this disclosure. These aspects areindicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciples of this disclosure may be employed. This disclosure isintended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Otheradvantages and distinctive features of this disclosure will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of this disclosure whenconsidered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example system that can controlswitching of electric vehicles (EVs) in a vehicle-to-grid (V2G)environment to facilitate controlling power generation and managingvariations of load demand for an electric grid in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of a flowchart of an example method forcontrolling switching of EVs in a V2G environment to facilitatecontrolling power generation and managing variations of load demand foran electric grid in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 3 depicts a diagram of a flowchart of another example method forcontrolling switching of EVs in a V2G environment to facilitatecontrolling power generation and managing variations of load demand foran electric grid in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of an example set of switching-prioritylists that can be used to facilitate controlling switching of EVs in aV2G environment to facilitate controlling power generation and managingvariations of load demand for an electric grid in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 5 depicts a diagram of another example set of switching-prioritylists that can be used to facilitate controlling switching of EVs in aV2G environment to facilitate controlling power generation and managingvariations of load demand for an electric grid in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 6 depicts a graph that compares a discrete regulation signal to acontinuous regulation signal with 10 EVs, which charge at 3.3 kW, andare associated with the ERCOT system over a one-hour period.

FIG. 7 depicts a graph that compares a discrete regulation signal to acontinuous regulation signal with 100 EVs, which charge at 3.3 kW, andare associated with the ERCOT system over a one-hour period.

FIG. 8 illustrates a graph of the mean absolute percentage error of thediscretized regulation signal as the number of EVs associated with apower system (e.g., ERCOT system) increases.

FIG. 9 depicts a block diagram of an example aggregator component inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a suitable operatingenvironment.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed subject matter is described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various embodiments of the subjectdisclosure. It may be evident, however, that the disclosed subjectmatter may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate describing the various embodiments herein.

The disclosed subject matter can mitigate the problem of unidirectionalvehicle-to-grid (V2G) dispatch of regulation and reserves from anaggregator perspective, for example, if the electric vehicle (EV)chargers are to be (e.g., can only be) controlled through remoteswitching on or off. The disclosed subject matter also can reduce thenumber of communication signals required to meet the dispatch of EVs ofa group of EVs, as compared to conventional dispatch. In someimplementations, one or more of the EVs can be V2G-capable EVs.

In one embodiment, this disclosed subject matter can include anaggregator component that can individually and/or discretely controltransitioning (e.g., switching) respective EVs (e.g., plug-in electricvehicles (PEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)) of a set(e.g., an aggregated group) of EVs between an on state (e.g., a chargingstate) and an off state (e.g., a not-charging state). The aggregatorcomponent can comprise a dispatch controller component that can employ adefined dispatch algorithm for EVs that can facilitate enabling thedispatch controller component to perform unidirectional regulation ofpower in relation to a utility grid (e.g., electric power grid).

The dispatch controller component, employing the defined dispatchalgorithm, can meet the system regulation signal by individually and/ordiscretely switching certain (e.g., a subset of) electric vehicles (EVs)(e.g., plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), plug-in hybrid electricvehicles (PHEVs)) between an on state (e.g., a charging state) or an offstate (e.g., a not-charging state) in a binary fashion within a largeraggregated group of EVs. This can reduce the complexity of theinfrastructure needs as the disclosed subject matter can be implementedby using a remote switch on the charging station. The disclosed systems(e.g., including the aggregator component and dispatch controllercomponent), methods, and techniques can reduce the number ofcommunication signals used to meet the dispatch to EVs of a set (e.g.,group(s)) of EVs, since adjustments in the dispatch only requirecommunicating signals (e.g., switching signals) to those EVs (e.g., viaan associated charging station(s)) of the set of EVs that are changingtheir charging state, as opposed to communicating signals to the entireset of EVs. The dispatch controller component, using the defineddispatch algorithm, also can account for the energy requirement of thecharging EVs and can ensure that the EVs receive similar amounts ofcharge, as compared to the amount of charge that would be received byEVs when using incremental dispatch techniques.

EV adoption can be expected to increase rapidly in the next few years.This can add significant new load to the national electric grid. One waythat has been proposed to integrate large numbers of EVs is through V2G,which can be defined as the provision of energy and ancillary servicesfrom an EV to the electric grid. V2G seeks to transform EVs frompotentially problematic loads for an electric grid into distributedenergy resources that can generate value for both the EV owners and theutility entity whose electric grid has the EVs connected thereto.V2G-capable EVs can provide many services to an electric grid, such as,for example, peak shaving, frequency regulation, and spinning andnon-spinning reserves.

Because a single EV typically does not have adequate capacity toparticipate in wholesale energy markets, aggregators can be used tocombine the capacities of many EVs. An aggregator can be a utilitymanaging EVs on its distribution system, or a third party operating avirtual power plant. The aggregator can be a market participant that canbid the combined capacities of the EVs into the appropriate market. Ithas been shown that frequency regulation can be one beneficial servicethat EVs can offer to an electric grid.

Recently there have been a number of studies on V2G schedulingoptimization from the aggregator perspective. These studies haveprimarily focused on determining the most profitable time to provideregulation capacity and how much capacity to schedule. In some of thesestudies, dispatch algorithms were developed for EVs which relied onincremental increases or decreases in the charge rate. One significantproblem with these conventional dispatch algorithms is that the chargingstations required for incremental increase and decrease in power can bemore expensive than other relatively simpler types of charging stations.Another problem can be the significant amount of communication overheadrequired to send a new signal to every EV participating in V2G everytime there is a new dispatch level.

The disclosed subject matter can employ dispatch techniques, systems,and methods for EVs participating in V2G regulation. The dispatchtechniques, systems, and methods disclosed herein can provide desirable(e.g., efficient) control of switching of EVs. This disclosed subjectmatter can meet the regulation signal by switching certain EVs on or offin a binary fashion within the larger aggregated group of EVs. This canreduce infrastructure needs over conventional systems and methods, sincethe disclosed subject matter can be implemented using a remote switch onthe charging station. The disclosed subject matter also can reducecommunication overhead as compared to conventional systems and methods.In accordance with the disclosed subject matter, the number ofcommunication signals used to control switching of EVs can be reduced orminimized as compared to conventional systems and methods, sinceadjustments in the dispatch in relation to a group of EVs can beperformed, for example, by signaling only those EVs that are changingtheir charging state, as opposed to communicating signals to the entiregroup of EVs. The defined dispatch algorithm also can account for theenergy requirement of the charging EVs and can ensure that the EVsreceive relatively similar amounts of charge as that received by EVswhen using certain conventional incremental dispatch methods.Simulations over a 24-hour period on the Electric Reliability Council ofTexas (ERCOT) system demonstrated that the performance of this defineddispatch algorithm of the disclosed subject matter in regulating powergeneration of the system can be comparable with certain conventionalincremental dispatch techniques while significantly reducing the numberof communication signals sent, as compared to those conventionalincremental dispatch techniques.

It can be desirable for utilities to constantly, or at leastsubstantially continuously, balance power generation with the loadfluctuations within their control areas. The frequency of the system canbe related to the energy imbalance: when generation is greater than theload, the frequency can be greater than the target (e.g., 50 Hertz (Hz)or 60 Hz depending on the country); when the load is greater than thepower generation, the frequency can be less than the target frequency.Utilities typically can send out a regulation signal at periodic times(e.g., in the range of seconds, such as, for example, every two to sixseconds) to adjust generation output to match the loads.

With regard to regulation and automatic generation control, it can bedesirable for each control area to be able to regulate generation tomeet the daily variations of load demand. This generation regulation caninclude several aspects, including frequency response, area controlerror (ACE), and automatic generator control (AGC):

1) Frequency response: It can be desirable (e.g., required) for allenergy resources above a certain size to be equipped with capability ofresponding to system frequency deviation due to load ramps and generatortrips. For example, governors typically can provide a defined amount ofdroop (e.g., 5% droop) and it can be desirable for the governors to beresponsive to frequency deviations outside of a pre-specified band.

2) ACE: ACE represents the shift in the generation in the control arearequired to restore frequency and the net interchange to its desiredvalue, and is given byACE=−ΔP _(net int)−10BΔf,  EQ. (1)where ΔP_(net int) is the deviation in megawatts (MW) of the interchangefrom the desired value, Δf is the frequency deviation in Hz, and B(e.g., in MW/0.1 Hz) is the bias set as close as possible to the controlarea's frequency response.

3) AGC: AGC is typically installed at a central location, such as thepower grid operator, as a means of coordinating the generation availablein a control area to restore ACE to zero. The control logic aims atdriving the overall ACE as well as individual unit generation deviationto zero. Generation set points from AGC calculation typically can beissued periodically (e.g., in the range of seconds, such as, forexample, every two to six seconds).

A single EV can perform unidirectional frequency regulation whilecharging by increasing and decreasing (e.g., modulating) its chargingrate around a set point called a preferred operating point (POP). As aresult, an EV can even perform V2G without discharging energy back intothe system. This regulation down capacity can be the capacity toincrease the charging rate of an EV above the POP. The regulation upcapacity can be the capacity to decrease the charging rate from the POP.

In certain conventional schemes, it has been proposed that an aggregatorcould manage a group of EVs by combining their individual POPs to set asits POP when bidding regulation into the market. Dispatch would then beaccomplished by sending signals to the SAE J1772 charging stations tohave them remotely adjust the pilot signal that informs the EVs of themaximum charge rate possible. In this way, the charge rate of the EV canincrease and decrease to follow the regulation signal without having toadd any additional hardware to the EV itself. One problem with theseconventional schemes that dispatch EVs in this manner is that the smartcharging stations that can receive a remote signal and incrementallyadjust their pilot signals are more expensive than charging stationsusing fixed pilot signals. Another problem with these types ofconventional schemes is that a dispatch signal has to be sent to everyEV in the group of EVs with each new increment. This communication costcan be unacceptably high.

The disclosed subject matter can overcome these and/or otherdeficiencies of the conventional schemes, while also being able todesirably regulate power generation including managing variations ofload demand for an electric grid. The disclosed subject matter canattain desirable regulation of power generation while having lowerinfrastructure expense and communication overhead than the conventionalschemes described supra.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an examplesystem 100 that can control switching of EVs in a V2G environment tofacilitate controlling power generation and managing variations of loaddemand for an electric grid in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The system 100 can includean aggregator component 102 that can aggregate, and control charging andswitching, of a set of EVs, comprising EV 104, EV 106, EV 108, and EV110, which can be associated with (e.g., electrically and/orcommunicatively connected to) an electric grid 112 at various giventimes. The electric grid 112 can provide power to the set of EVs and/orother components (e.g., homes, offices, etc.) associated with theelectric grid 112. The aggregator component 102 can be associated with(e.g., owned, operated, and/or managed by) an entity (e.g., aggregator),such as, for example, a utility company that can operate the electricgrid 112 or a third-party service provider.

The system 100 also can include a plurality of charging stations,including charging station 114, charging station 116, and chargingstation 118, that can facilitate charging the power components (e.g.,rechargeable batteries) of EVs (e.g., 104 through 110) respectivelyassociated with those charging stations (e.g., 114, 116, 118). Theplurality of charging stations (e.g., 114, 116, 118) can be associatedwith (e.g., electrically and/or communicatively connected to) theaggregator component 102 and/or EVs (e.g., 104 through 110) respectivelyassociated with (e.g., electrically and/or communicatively connected to)the charging stations (e.g., 114, 116, 118), e.g., at various giventimes. In accordance with various implementations, a charging stationcan be located at a home, an office building, and/or a business thatprovides EV charging services, etc. In some implementations, the set ofEVs (e.g., 104 through 110) and/or the plurality of charging stations(e.g., 114, 116, 118) can be associated with (e.g., via respectiveowners or operators of the EVs and/or charging stations) subscriptionswith the entity (e.g., aggregator) associated with the aggregatorcomponent 102.

The aggregator component 102 can include a dispatch controller component120 that can control switching (e.g., automatically and/or dynamically)of respective EVs (e.g., 104 through 110) associated with the electricgrid 112 between an on state (e.g., charging state) and an off state(e.g., not-charging state) at desired times to facilitate regulatingpower generation by the electric grid 112, including regulating powergeneration in relation to varying load demands on the electric grid 112,and providing electrical power to the set of EVs (e.g., 104 through 110)to charge the respective power components of the EVs (e.g., 104 through110). The dispatch controller component 120 can switch charging statesof the EVs (e.g., 104 through 110) between the on state and the offstate to make the discretized regulation signal of the aggregate of theEVs (e.g., the set of EVs, including EVs 104 through 110) match, or atleast substantially match, the regulation signal associated with theelectric grid 112 using discrete switching of EVs as opposed toconventional incremental adjustment.

For each scheduling period, the dispatch controller component 120 canassign each EV of the set of EVs a target percentage of the totalaggregator energy dispatched during that scheduling period. This can bebased at least in part on the EVs schedule using, for example, a V2Goptimization algorithm(s). As more fully disclosed herein, the dispatchcontroller component 120 can assign each EV in the set of EVs arespective priority level for charging of the EVs relative to the otherEVs in the set of EVs, wherein switching of charging states of the EVscan be based at least in part on the respective priority levels of theEVs. To facilitate controlling switching of the EVs (e.g., 104 through110), the dispatch controller component 120 can utilize the defineddispatch algorithm, in accordance with defined power regulationcriterion.

The dispatch controller component 120 can regulate power generation ofthe electric grid 112 at least in part by controlling switching (e.g.,binary switching) of each individual EV (e.g., 104 through 110) aroundthe aggregator's POP (e.g., the POP for the aggregator component 102).To achieve this, the dispatch controller component 120 can add the POPto the regulation signal received by the system operator. The dispatchcontroller component 120 can determine the number of EVs of the set ofEVs (e.g., 104 through 110) that are to be used (e.g., switched on tocharging state in relation to the electric grid 112) to meet that energylevel associated with the POP based at least in part on the respectivepower draws of the EVs (e.g., 104 through 110) when switched to the onstate. The dispatch controller component 120 can employ defined logic,in accordance with defined regulation criterion, to facilitatedetermining which EVs (e.g., 104 through 110) are to be switched to theon state to be charged by the electric grid 112 (e.g., via therespective charging stations 114, 116, and/or 118) based at least inpart on the respective energy needs of those respective EVs for aspecified time period (e.g., a specified time period of less than anhour, a one-hour time period, a specified time period of greater thanone hour).

The dispatch controller component 120 can communicate dispatch signalsto those EVs (e.g., only those EVs) of the set of EVs that are changingstate (e.g., changing from an off state to an on state to be charged bythe electric grid 112; changing from an on state to an off state todiscontinue being charged by the electric grid 112). In someimplementations, the dispatch controller component 120 can transmitdispatch signals to those EVs in a subset of the set of EVs that are tochange their charging state to those EVs in the subset of EVs or tocharging stations in a subset of charging stations (e.g., chargingstation(s) 114, 116, and/or 118) respectively associated with those EVsin the subset of EVs. In response to receiving the dispatch signals(e.g., switching signals), the respective EVs in the subset of EVs, viathose EVs themselves and/or respective associated charging stations, canchange their charging state from a current charging state to a differentcharging state, in accordance with the dispatch signals.

In view of the example systems, components, and devices describedherein, example methods that can be implemented in accordance with thisdisclosure can be further appreciated with reference to flowcharts inFIGS. 2-3. For purposes of simplicity of explanation, various methodsdisclosed herein are presented and described as a series of acts;however, it is to be understood and appreciated that this disclosure isnot limited by the order of acts, as some acts may occur in differentorder and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and describedherein. It is noted that not all illustrated acts may be required toimplement a described method in accordance with this disclosure. Inaddition, for example, one or more methods disclosed herein couldalternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, interaction diagram(s) orcall flow(s) represent several of the example methods disclosed hereinin accordance with the described subject matter; particularly ininstances when disparate entities, or functional elements, enactdisparate portions of one or more of the several methods. Furthermore,two or more of the disclosed example methods can be implemented incombination, to accomplish one or more features or advantages describedin this disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts a diagram of a flowchart of an example method 200 forcontrolling switching of EVs in a V2G environment to facilitatecontrolling power generation and managing variations of load demand foran electric grid in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter. The method 200 can be utilized by, forexample, an aggregator component (e.g., aggregator component 102), whichcan include a dispatch controller component (e.g., dispatch controllercomponent 120).

At 202, a set of EVs associated with an electric grid can be aggregatedto facilitate charging of respective EVs in the set of EVs. Theaggregator component can aggregate the set of EVs. The aggregatorcomponent can be associated with one or more entities (e.g., aggregator,such as a utility associated with (e.g., owning or operating) theelectric grid or a third-party aggregator (e.g., owning or operating avirtual power plant associated with the electric grid)).

At 204, switching of a subset of EVs of the set of EVs between acharging state and a not-charging state at a given time can becontrolled, based at least in part on respective priority levels of therespective EVs in the set of EVs. The dispatch controller component canidentify (e.g., detect, measure, etc.) respective priority levels of therespective EVs in the set of EVs. The dispatch controller component cancontrol switching of the subset of EVs of the set of EVs between thecharging state and the not-charging state at the given time, based atleast in part on respective priority levels of the respective EVs in theset of EVs, in accordance with a defined dispatch algorithm.

For example, the dispatch controller component can execute the defineddispatch algorithm to facilitate identifying EVs that are to be includedin the subset of EVs that are to be switched between the charging stateand the not-charging state at the given time, based at least in part onrespective priority levels of the respective EVs in the set of EVs. Inaccordance with the defined dispatch algorithm, the dispatch controllercomponent generate a dispatch signal(s) (e.g., switching signal(s)) andcan transmit the dispatch signal(s) to the respective EVs in the subsetof EVs or to a subset of charging stations respectively associated withthe respective EVs in the subset of EVs to facilitate switching therespective EVs in the subset of EVs between the charging state and thenot-charging state at the given time. In response to the respective EVsin the subset of EVs or the subset of charging stations receiving thedispatch signal(s), the EVs in the subset of EVs and/or the chargingstation(s) in the subset of charging stations can switch the respectiveEVs in the subset of EVs from a current charging state to a differentcharging state.

Turning to FIG. 3 (and referring again to FIG. 1), FIG. 3 illustrates adiagram of a flowchart of another example method 300 for controllingswitching of EVs in a V2G environment to facilitate controlling powergeneration and managing variations of load demand for an electric gridin accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The method 300 can be implemented by the aggregatorcomponent 102, including the dispatch controller component 120, forexample.

At 302, a dispatch percentage (DisPer_(i)) of each EV of the set of EVs(e.g., 104 through 110) can be determined for each scheduling period,for example, using EQ. (3) (e.g., by the dispatch controller component120). At 304, for each EV of the set of EVs (e.g., 104 through 110), anerror (DisEr_(i)) (e.g., dispatch error) between a respective EV'sdispatch up to that point in the scheduling period and its target (e.g.,target dispatch) can be determined, for example, using EQ. (4) (e.g., bythe dispatch controller component 120).

In some implementations, the dispatch controller component 120 candetermine (e.g., calculate) the dispatch percentage for each EV (e.g.,using EQ. (3), as more fully disclosed herein) of the set of EVs, andcan use the respective dispatch percentages of the respective EVs of theset of EVs to calculate the respective priorities of the respective EVs(e.g., EVs 104 through 110) for dispatch. The dispatch controllercomponent 120 can determine the priority of an EV as a function of theexpected value of energy to be received by the EV, which can be givenfrom the scheduling algorithm (e.g., charging scheduling algorithm) usedin relation to EVs in the set of EVs (e.g., EVs 104 through 110). Inaccordance with various implementations, a scheduling algorithm(s) cantake into account EV availability, usage history of an EV, customerconstraints associated with an EV, current battery state of charge (SOC)of an EV, system energy and ancillary services prices associated withthe system (e.g., 100), etc., to determine the amount of regulationcapacity that can be bid into the market each hour from each EV of theset of EVs (e.g., EVs 104 through 110).

From those capacities, the dispatch controller component 120, or anothercomponent associated with the aggregator component 102, can determine(e.g., calculate) an expected value of energy received by the EV overthe scheduling period. This expected value of energy received by an EVduring period P using desired (e.g., optimal) scheduling strategies canbe given by, for example,En _(i)(P)=POP_(i)(P)−RegU _(i)(P)·Ex _(U)+RegD _(i)(P)·Ex _(D)  EQ. (2)wherein:

En_(i)(P) is the expected value of the energy to be received over thescheduling period by the i^(th) EV;

RegU_(i)(P) is the regulation up capacity of the i^(th) EV during periodP;

RegD_(i)(P) is the regulation down capacity of the i^(th) EV duringperiod P;

Ex_(U) is the expected value of regulation up dispatch over a period;

Ex_(D) is the expected value of regulation down dispatch over a period;and

wherein the dispatch controller component 120, or another componentassociated with the aggregator component 102, can determine the valuesfor Ex_(U) and Ex_(D) from historical data.

Using the expected value of energy received for the EVs, respectively,the dispatch controller component 120 can identify (e.g., determine,calculate) the priority of each EV of the set of EVs (e.g., EVs 104through 110) from that EV's dispatch percentage and that EV's dispatchpercentage error (DisEr_(i)), which can be given by, respectively,

$\begin{matrix}{{DisPer}_{i} = \frac{{En}_{i}(P)}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{cars}{{En}_{i}(P)}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu}(3)} \\{{DisEr}_{i} = \frac{\left( {{DisPer}_{i} - \frac{\sum\limits_{\tau = 1}^{t}{{EVDISP}_{i}(\tau)}}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{cars}{\sum\limits_{\tau = 1}^{t}{{EVDISP}_{i}(\tau)}}}} \right)}{{DisPer}_{i}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu}(4)}\end{matrix}$wherein

DisPer_(i) is the percentage of the total aggregator's dispatch to bemet by the i^(th) EV;

DisEr_(i) is the error between an EV's dispatch up to that point in thescheduling period and that EV's target; and

EVDisp_(i) is the dispatches for the i^(th) EV over the schedulingperiod.

At 306, a “turn off” list and a “turn on” list can be generated (e.g.,constructed, created, built, etc.), each containing respective subsetsof EVs of the set of EVs, based at least in part on the n highestpriorities of EVs of the set of EVs to meet the POP associated with theaggregator component (e.g., 102). The value of n can be virtually anydesired integer number ranging up to the number of EVs in the set ofEVs, and can be determined and/or set based at least in part on one ormore defined dispatch criterion. To facilitate reducing rapid togglingof switching states of the EVs (e.g., EVs 104 through 110) whilecharging, the dispatch controller component 120 can generate the “turnoff” list and the “turn on” list. The dispatch controller component 120can place (e.g., insert) the EVs, respectively, into the “turn on” listor the “turn off” list based at least in part on the respective priorityvalues of the respective EVs (e.g., EVs 104 through 110). For example,the dispatch controller component 120 can place a first grouping (e.g.,“turn on” grouping) of EVs of a set of EVs associated with theaggregator component 102 on the “turn on” list and a second grouping(e.g., “turn off” grouping) of EVs of the set of EVs on the “turn off”list based at least in part on the respective priority values of therespective EVs.

The “turn off” list can include the n EVs of the set of EVs (e.g., EVs104 through 110) that can be desired (e.g., required) to meet theaggregator POP associated with the aggregator component 102 and thus canbe available to be turned (e.g., switched) to the off state. The “turnoff” list can be populated by the n EVs with the highest dispatchpriority (e.g., relative to the other EVs of the set of EVs) indescending order of priority (e.g., EV having the highest priority atthe top of the “turn off” list down to the EV having the lowest priorityof the EVs that are on the “turn off” list). The EVs on the “turn off”list can start the scheduling period in the “turned on” state (e.g.,charging state) to facilitate meeting the POP associated with theaggregator component 102.

As more fully disclosed herein, when regulation up is desired (e.g.,needed) by the aggregator component 102, e.g., due to power conditions(e.g., power regulation conditions) relating to the electric grid 112,an EV(s) at the bottom of the “turn off” list can be turned off andadded to the bottom of the “turn on” list. For instance, the dispatchcontroller component 120 can generate a regulation-up dispatch signal,and can transmit the regulation-up dispatch signal to the EV(s) at thebottom of the “turn off” list or an associated charging station (e.g.,114, 116, or 118), and the EV(s) can be switched to the off ornot-charging state. The dispatch controller component 120 also canmodify the “turn on” list and “turn off” list by moving this EV(s) fromthe bottom of the “turn off” list to the bottom of the “turn on” list.At this point, with that EV(s) being moved to be listed at the bottom ofthe “turn on” list, the dispatch controller component 120 cancorrespondingly move other EVs of the “turn on” list up in the priorityorder above that moved EV(s) on the “turn on” list.

The dispatch controller component 120 also can assign the remaining EVs,which can be available to be turned on by the aggregator component 102,to the “turn on” list in descending order of priority of the respectiveremaining EVs of the set of EVs. The remaining EVs can be EVs withrelatively lower priority values relative to the other EVs in the set ofEVs (e.g., relative to the EVs on the “turn off” list). The dispatchcontroller component 120 can facilitate initially switching off (e.g.,switching to the off or not-charging state) the EVs on the “turn on”list.

As more fully disclosed herein, when regulation down is desired (e.g.,needed) by the aggregator component 102, e.g., due to power conditionsrelating to the electric grid 112, the dispatch controller component 120can facilitate switching a specified number of EVs at the top of the“turn on” list to the on state and can add that/those EV(s) to the topof the “turn off” list. For example, the dispatch controller component120 can generate a regulation-down dispatch signal, and can transmit theregulation-down dispatch signal to the EV(s) at the top of the “turn on”list or an associated charging station (e.g., 114, 116, or 118), and theEV(s) can be switched to the on or charging state. In response toreceiving the regulation-down dispatch signal, the EV(s) or anassociated charging station(s) can switch the EV(s) to the on orcharging state. The dispatch controller component 120 also can modifythe “turn on” list and “turn off” list by moving this EV(s) from the topof the “turn on” list to the top of the “turn off” list. At this point,with this EV(s) being moved to be listed at the top of the “turn off”list, the dispatch controller component 120 can correspondingly move anEV, which was previously at the top of the “turn off” list, down in thepriority order below the moved EV(s) on the “turn off” list. Also, onthe “turn on” list, the dispatch controller component 120 cancorrespondingly move other EVs that remain in the “turn on” list up inthe priority order, wherein the EV which previously was below the movedEV(s) in the priority order of the “turn on” list can move up inpriority to the top of the “turn on” list.

With further reference to the method 300 of FIG. 3 (along with FIG. 1),at 308, a regulation signal received from the system (e.g., power systemassociated with the electric grid 112) can be discretized intoincrements which can be met by the switching of charging states ofindividual EVs of the set of EVs. The aggregator component 102 (e.g.,the dispatch controller component 120 of the aggregator component 102)can receive the regulation signal (e.g., system regulation signal) fromthe system. The dispatch controller component 120 can discretize theregulation signal into increments of a defined size that can be met bythe switching of charging states of individual EVs of the set of EVs.Generally, for large groups of EVs the differences between thediscretized signal and the original signal can be negligible as furtherdisclosed herein in relation to discrete regulation dispatch.

At 310, the number of EVs to be used (e.g., switched to the on orcharging state) to follow the regulation signal can be determined, forexample, using EQs. (5) and (6) (e.g., by the dispatch controllercomponent 120). The dispatch controller component 120 can determine theamount of energy, E_(R)(t), that can be desired (e.g., required) tofollow the regulation signal given by the system operator, and candetermine the number of EVs of the set of EVs that are to be switched tothe on state in order to meet that amount of energy, E_(R)(t). For anytime t, these can be given byE _(R)(t)=POP(t)+RegS(t)  EQ. (5)N _(EVs)(t)=E _(R)(t)/MP  EQ. (6)wherein:

RegS(t) is the regulation signal from the system at time t;

POP(t) is the aggregator POP at time t;

N_(EVs)(t) is the number of EVs to be used to meet the energyrequirement associated with the regulation signal; and

MP is the power draw of an EV when switched to the on state (e.g.,charging state).

At 312, a value of m can be determined as a function of n andN_(EVs)(t). The dispatch controller component 120 can determine (e.g.,calculate) the value of m as m=n−N_(EVs)(t) to facilitate determiningwhether any EVs are to be moved between the “turn off” list and the“turn on” list. For instance, the dispatch controller component 120 cancompare the desired number n of EVs to be used for charging against theEVs that are on the “turn off” list.

At 314, a determination can be made regarding whether the value of m isgreater than 0 (e.g., by a dispatch controller component 120). If it isdetermined (e.g., by the dispatch controller component 120) that thevalue of m is greater than 0, at 316, the m EVs at the bottom of the“turn off” list can be moved from the “turn off” list to the bottom ofthe “turn on” list (e.g., by the dispatch controller component 120).

If, at 314, it is determined (e.g., by the dispatch controller component120) that the value of m is not greater than 0, at 318, a determinationcan be made regarding whether the value of m is less than 0 (e.g., by adispatch controller component 120). If it is determined (e.g., by thedispatch controller component 120) that the value of m is less than 0,at 320, the m EVs at the top of the “turn on” list can be moved to thetop of the “turn off” list (e.g., by the dispatch controller component120). If, at 318, it is determined (e.g., by the dispatch controllercomponent 120) that the value of m is not less than 0 (and thus, m=0),at 322, the “turn off” list and “turn on” list can remain in theirrespective current state (e.g., the dispatch controller component 120can decide to make no changes to the “turn on” list and the “turn off”list).

In some implementations, if the dispatch controller component 120determines that the total number of EVs that are desired (e.g., needed)to be switched to the on state for charging to meet the regulationsignal is m less than the number of EVs on the “turn off” list, thedispatch controller component 120 can move the m EVs at the bottom ofthe “turn off” list (e.g., m lowest priority EVs on the “turn off” list)to the bottom of the “turn on” list. If the total EVs desired (e.g.,needed) to be switched on for charging to meet the regulation signal ism greater than the number of EVs on the “turn off” list, the dispatchcontroller component 120 can move the top m EVs (e.g., m highestpriority EVs) in the “turn on” list to the top of the “turn off” list.

From act 316 or act 320, the method 300 can proceed to act 324. At 324,a switching signal (e.g., switch on signal (e.g., charge signal), orswitch off signal (e.g., discontinue charge signal)) can be communicated(e.g., transmitted, sent) to EVs that have moved between the “turn off”list and “turn on” list (e.g., changed from one list to the other list).The dispatch controller component 120 can communicate a correspondingswitching signal (e.g., switch on signal or switch off signal) to eachof the EVs that have moved from one list to the other list (e.g., thesubset of EVs that have moved from one list to the other list). It isnot necessary for the dispatch controller component 120 to transmitswitching signals to all of the EVs in the set of EVs, as the dispatchcontroller component 120 can manage switching signaling by communicatingcorresponding switching signals to the subset of EVs of the set of EVsthat have moved between the “turn off” list and “turn on” list. This cansubstantially reduce the communication overhead in relation tocontrolling charging (or switching) states of EVs and regulating powergeneration of the electric grid, as compared to conventional systems andmethods.

From act 322 or act 324, the method 300 can proceed to act 326. At 326,a determination can be made regarding whether a scheduling period hasended (e.g., the dispatch controller component 120). If it is determined(e.g., by the dispatch controller component 120) that the schedulingperiod has not ended, at 328, a determination can be made regardingwhether the “turn on” list and the “turn off” list are to berecalculated or redetermined. The dispatch controller component 120 candetermine whether the “turn on” list and the “turn off” list are to berecalculated or redetermined based at least in part on, for example, aspecified number of dispatches that have been performed or an amount oftime that has elapsed since the last time these lists were recalculatedor redetermined. In some implementations, the dispatch controllercomponent 120 can dynamically determine whether the “turn on” list andthe “turn off” list are to be recalculated or redetermined based atleast in part on feedback information received from, for example, theelectric grid 112, another component of the aggregator component 102, acharging station (e.g., 114, 116, and/or 118), and/or an EV (e.g., 104,106, 108, and/or 110).

If, at 328, it is determined that it is time to recalculate orredetermine the “turn on” list and the “turn off” list, the method 300can return to act 302, wherein the dispatch percentage (DisPer_(i)) ofeach EV of the set of EVs (e.g., EVs 104 through 110) can be determined(e.g., by the dispatch controller component 120), and the method 300 canproceed from that point to determine respective priority levels of theEVs in the set of EVs, and modify (e.g., reform) the “turn off” list and“turn on” list (e.g., based on the newly determined priority levels ofthe EVs), etc., in accordance with the method 300 and defined powerregulation criterion. If, at 328, it is determined that it is not timeto recalculate or redetermine the “turn on” list and the “turn off”list, the method 300 can return to act 308, wherein a regulation signal(e.g., same, new, or next regulation signal) received (e.g., by theaggregator component 102) from the system (e.g., power system associatedwith the electric grid 112) can be discretized into increments which canbe met by the switching of charging states of individual EVs of the setof EVs, and the method 300 can proceed from that point.

Referring again to act 326, if it is determined that the schedulingperiod has ended, at 330, the method 300 can end. At this point, thedispatch controller component 120 can determine (e.g., identify,calculate) new V2G capacities from the applicable scheduling algorithm.

Referring briefly to FIG. 4 (along with FIG. 1), FIG. 4 depicts adiagram of an example set of switching-priority lists 400 that can beused (e.g., by the dispatch controller component 120) to facilitatecontrolling switching of EVs in a V2G environment to facilitatecontrolling power generation and managing variations of load demand foran electric grid in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter. The set of switching-priority lists 400can include a “turn on” list 402 that can include a first subset of EVsthat can be available to be turned (e.g., switched) to an on state bythe dispatch controller component 120, and a “turn off” list 404 thatcan include a second subset of EVs that can be available to be turned(e.g., switched) to the off state by the dispatch controller component120, in accordance with defined dispatch criterion.

In accordance with the example set of switching-priority lists 400, the“turn on” list 402 initially can include EV 104, EV 106, EV 406, andEV408, wherein EV 408 initially can be at the bottom of the “turn on”list 402; and the “turn off” list 404 initially can include EV 108, EV410, EV 412, and EV 110, wherein EV 110 initially can be at the bottomof the “turn off” list 404. If, for example, regulation up is desired inrelation to the electric grid 112, e.g., due to power conditions (e.g.,power regulation conditions) relating to the electric grid 112, thedispatch controller component 120 can generate a regulation-up dispatchsignal, and can transmit the regulation-up dispatch signal to a subsetof EVs, including EV 110 in this example, identified as being at thebottom or lower end of the “turn off” list 404 or an associated chargingstation (e.g., 114, 116, or 118), and that subset of EVs, including EV110, or associated charging station can switch the subset of EVs,including EV 110, to the off or not-charging state. The dispatchcontroller component 120 also can modify the “turn on” list 402 and“turn off” list 404 by moving this subset of EVs, including EV 110, fromthe bottom of the “turn off” list 404 to the bottom of the “turn on”list 402. At this point, with the EV 110 being moved to be listed at thebottom of the “turn on” list 402, the dispatch controller component 120can correspondingly move the EV 408 up in the priority order above EV110 (and/or other EVs, if any, in the subset of EVs) on the “turn on”list 402.

Referring briefly to FIG. 5 (along with FIG. 1), FIG. 5 depicts adiagram of another example set of switching-priority lists 500 that canbe used (e.g., by the dispatch controller component 120) to facilitatecontrolling switching of EVs in a V2G environment to facilitatecontrolling power generation and managing variations of load demand foran electric grid in accordance with various aspects and embodiments ofthe disclosed subject matter. The set of switching-priority lists 500can include a “turn on” list 502 that can include a first subset of EVsthat can be available to be turned (e.g., switched) to an on state bythe dispatch controller component 120, and a “turn off” list 504 thatcan include a second subset of EVs that can be available to be turned(e.g., switched) to the off state by the dispatch controller component120, in accordance with defined dispatch criterion.

In accordance with the example set of switching-priority lists 500, the“turn on” list 502 initially can include EV 104, EV 106, EV 506, andEV508, wherein EV 104 initially can be at the top of the “turn on” list502; and the “turn off” list 504 initially can include EV 108, EV 510,EV 512, and EV 110, wherein EV 108 initially can be at the top of the“turn off” list 504. If, for example, regulation down is desired inrelation to the electric grid 112, e.g., due to power conditions (e.g.,power regulation conditions) relating to the electric grid 112, thedispatch controller component 120 can generate a regulation-downdispatch signal, and can transmit the regulation-down dispatch signal toa subset of EVs, including EV 104, at the top of the “turn on” list 502or an associated charging station(s) (e.g., 114, 116, or 118). Inresponse to receiving the regulation-down dispatch signal, the subset ofEVs, including EV 104, or an associated charging station(s) can switchthe subset of EVs, including EV 104, to the on or charging state. Thedispatch controller component 120 also can modify the “turn on” list 502and “turn off” list 504 by moving this subset of EVs, including EV 104,from the top of the “turn on” list 502 to the top of the “turn off” list504. At this point, with the EV 104 being moved to be listed at the topof the “turn off” list 504, the dispatch controller component 120 cancorrespondingly move the EV 108 down in the priority order below EV 104(and/or other EVs, if any, in the subset of EVs) on the “turn off” list504. Also, the dispatch controller component 120 can correspondinglymove the other EVs (e.g., EVs 106, 406, and 408) up in the priorityorder for the “turn on” list 502. For example, if EV 104 was the only EVin the subset of EVs, the dispatch controller component 120 can move EV106 up to the top of the “turn on” list 502 and can correspondingly movethe other EVs, including EV 506, up in priority on the “turn on” list502.

One of the benefits of the disclosed subject matter, by employing thedefined dispatch algorithm and aggregator component 102, is that thedisclosed subject matter can be implemented by installing a remoteswitch on a charging station (e.g., 114, 116, 118). Thus, infrastructurecosts associated with the disclosed subject matter can be relatively lowas compared to conventional systems and methods. One of the otherbenefits of the disclosed subject matter, by employing the defineddispatch algorithm and aggregator component 102, is that communicationoverhead relating to controlling charging states of the EVs andregulating power generation for an electric grid can be reduced becausethe dispatch controller component 120 can effectively control thecharging states of the EVs and regulating power generation for theelectric grid 112 by communicating switching signals to only the subsetof EVs of the set of EVs (e.g., EVs 104, 106, 108, and/or 110) that arechanging charging state at a given time. As a result, communicationoverhead of the disclosed subject matter can be reduced or minimized ascompared to conventional systems and methods.

With regard to discrete regulation dispatch, one of the aspects of thedefined dispatch algorithm is that the defined dispatch algorithm (andthus, the dispatch controller component 120 employing that algorithm)can discretize the system regulation signal into increments that can bemet by the switching of individual EVs of the set of EVs (e.g., EVs 104through 110). This can introduce error into the response of theaggregator to the regulation signal. For a small number of EVs, thiserror may be relatively large as depicted in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 depicts adiagram of an example graph 600 that compares a discrete regulationsignal to a continuous regulation signal with only 10 EVs, which chargeat 3.3 kW (e.g., which is the charger size on a Nissan Leaf) and areassociated with the ERCOT system, over a one-hour period. As the numberof EVs participating increases (e.g., the number of EVs associated withthe ERCOT system increases), the error in the response of the aggregatorto the regulation signal can decrease significantly, as is illustratedin FIG. 7, which depicts a diagram of an a graph 700 that compares adiscrete regulation signal to a continuous regulation signal with 100EVs, which charge at 3.3 kW and are associated with the ERCOT system,over a one-hour period.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram of an example graph 800 of the meanabsolute percentage error of the discretized regulation signal as thenumber of EVs associated with a power system (e.g., ERCOT system)increases. The graph 800 illustrates the error reduction with EV sizefor a 3-month period on the ERCOT system. The graph 800 shows that, at100 EVs, the mean absolute percentage error can be less than 10% and, at1000 EVs, the mean absolute percentage can be less than 1.5%. Such asmall amount of error generally can be acceptable for regulationdispatch.

FIG. 9 depicts a block diagram of an example aggregator component 900 inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter. The aggregator component 900 can be associated with one or moreelectric grids (not shown in FIG. 9; e.g., an electric grid as shown inFIG. 1), one or more charging stations (not shown in FIG. 9; e.g., acharging station(s) as shown in FIG. 1), and/or one or more EVs (notshown in FIG. 9; e.g., an EV(s) as shown in FIG. 1).

The aggregator component 900 can include a communicator component 902that can communicate (e.g., transmit, receive) information between theaggregator component 900 and other components (e.g., chargingstation(s), EV(s), communication network(s), processor(s), datastore(s), etc.). The information can include or relate to, for example,regulation signals, power condition information associated with anelectric grid, dispatch signals, an algorithm(s) (e.g., defined dispatchalgorithm(s)), etc. The aggregator component 900 can use receivedinformation to facilitate determining whether an EV(s) is to switchcharging states to respond to a power-related condition associated withan electric grid, determining whether an EV(s) and/or which EV(s) is tobe switched to a charging state or a not-charging state, determine whichEV(s) is to be moved between a “turn on” list and a “turn off” list,etc. The communicator component 902 can transmit a dispatch signal(e.g., regulation-up dispatch signal, regulation-down dispatch signal,etc.) to, for example, a charging station(s) and/or EV(s) to facilitatecontrolling switching of EVs between a charging state and not-chargingstate, in accordance with a defined dispatch algorithm. In someimplementations, the communicator component 902 can establish acommunication channel (e.g., wireline or wireless communication channel)to communicate information between the aggregator component 900 andanother component(s) (e.g., charging station(s), EV(s), etc.) tofacilitate communicating information between the aggregator component900 and the other component(s).

The aggregator component 900 can include a dispatch controller component904 that can be employed to control switching of EVs associated with theaggregator component 900 between a charging state and not-chargingstate, in accordance with a defined dispatch algorithm. The dispatchcontroller component 904 can contain an analyzer component 906 that cananalyze or evaluate information relating to power conditions associatedwith an electric grid(s), a charging station(s), an EV(s), etc., tofacilitate controlling switching of EVs associated with the aggregatorcomponent 900 between a charging state and not-charging state. Theanalyzer component 906 can generate analysis results based at least inpart on its analysis of the information, and can provide the analysisresults to another component(s) of the dispatch controller component 904to facilitate enabling the dispatch controller component 904 to makedeterminations relating to switching of EVs associated with theaggregator component 900 between a charging state and not-chargingstate, as more fully disclosed herein.

The dispatch controller component 904 also can comprise a calculatorcomponent 908 that can perform calculations on data (e.g., implementing,and in accordance with, the equations disclosed herein). In someimplementations, the calculator component 908 can calculate a dispatchpercentage and a dispatch error for respective EVs associated with theaggregator component 900, for example, using the equations disclosedherein relation to calculating dispatch percentage and dispatch error.The dispatch controller component 904 can use the calculated dispatchpercentages and dispatch errors of EVs to generate switching-prioritylists, such as a “turn on” list and a “turn off” list, that can includerespective subsets of EVs based at least in part on the respectivepriorities of EVs in relation to charging of EVs.

The dispatch controller component 904 can include a priority component910 and a list component 912. The priority component 910 can identifyrespective charging-related priorities of EVs associated with theaggregator component 900, based at least in part on the respectivedispatch percentages and dispatch errors of the EVs. The list component912 can assign EVs to respective switching-priority lists and canarrange the EVs within the respective switching-priority lists in apriority order or ranking, based at least in part on the respectivecharging-related priorities of the EVs and/or movements of respectiveEVs between the respective switching-priority lists in response to powerconditions relating to an electric grid (e.g., in response a regulationsignal received from a component associated with an electric grid), inaccordance with the defined dispatch algorithm.

The dispatch controller component 904 can comprise a discretizercomponent 914 that can discretize a regulation signal received from acomponent associated with an electric grid into increment values,wherein the discretized length of the increments can be of a specifiedsize, in accordance with defined power regulation criterion. Thediscretizer component 914 can identify, select, and/or assign anincrement value for a particular increment of a regulation signal basedat least in part on the actual values of the regulation signal, thelength of the increment, and/or defined power regulation criterion.

The dispatch controller component 904 can include a dispatch managercomponent 916 that can manage data flow between various components ofthe dispatch controller component 904. The dispatch manager component916 also can make determinations relating to controlling switching ofEVs between a charging state and a not-charging state, calculating oridentifying respective priorities of EVs, generating or modifyingswitching-priority lists, performance of functions in response toreceived regulation signals, performance of functions in response toinformation received from other components (e.g., EV(s), chargingstation(s), etc.) associated with the aggregator component 900, etc. Thedispatch manager component 916 can facilitate communicating dispatchsignals (e.g., regulation-up signal, regulation-down signal) torespective EVs and/or associated charging stations to facilitatecontrolling switching of EVs between a charging state and a not-chargingstate, in accordance with a defined dispatch algorithm.

The dispatch controller component 904 can contain a comparator component918 that can compare a data value with one or more other data values todetermine which data value is greater in value than, lesser in valuethan, or equal in value to another value, and/or to facilitatedetermining a relative order or ranking (e.g., priority order orranking) of data values in relation to each other. For example, as partof the defined dispatch algorithm, the comparator component 918 cancompare the value of m to 0 to determine whether the value of m isgreater than or less than 0 to facilitate determining whether to move asubset of EVs from one switching-priority list to anotherswitching-priority list and determining a switching-priority list towhich the subset of EVs are to be moved. The value of the parameter mcan be calculated as a function of the parameter n and N_(EVs)(t),wherein N_(EVs)(t) is the number of EVs to be used to meet the energyrequirement associated with a regulation signal and the parameter n canrelate to the n highest priorities of EVs of the set of EVs to meet thePOP associated with the aggregator component (e.g., 900). The value of ncan be virtually any desired integer number ranging up to the number ofEVs in the set of EVs, and can be determined and/or set based at leastin part on one or more defined dispatch criterion.

The dispatch controller component 904 can include a signal component 920that can receive regulation signals (e.g., power regulation signals)associated with an electric grid(s) associated with the aggregatorcomponent 900. The signal component 920 also can generate dispatchsignals, such as a regulation-up dispatch signal and a regulation-downdispatch signal, that the communicator component 902 can transmit to oneor more EVs and/or one or more charging stations associated with thoseEVs to facilitate controlling switching of EVs between a charging stateand a not-charging state. The dispatch signals can be used, for example,to facilitate enabling the aggregator component 900 to meet a regulationsignal.

The dispatch controller component 904 can comprise a scheduler component922 that can maintain and manage a schedule period for theswitching-priority lists and EVs associated with the aggregatorcomponent 900. The scheduler component 922 can set the schedule periodto be a defined period of time, a defined number of dispatches, or adynamically determined period of time, based at least in part on defineddispatch criterion. The scheduler component 922 can determine whetherthe switch-priority lists (e.g., “turn on” list and the “turn off” list)are to be recalculated or redetermined based at least in part on theschedule period, wherein when the scheduler component 922 identifies theschedule period as being expired, the scheduler component 922 cancommunicate information indicating the schedule period has expired tothe dispatch manager component 916. In response, the dispatch managercomponent 916 can control operations by other components (e.g., analyzercomponent 906, calculator component 908, priority component 910, listcomponent 912, etc.) to recalculate or redetermine theswitching-priority lists, in accordance with defined dispatch criterion.In some implementations, the scheduler component 922 and/or dispatchmanager component 916 can dynamically determine whether the “turn on”list and the “turn off” list are to be recalculated or redeterminedbased at least in part on feedback information received from, forexample, an electric grid, another component(s) of the aggregatorcomponent 900, a charging station(s), and/or an EV(s).

The dispatch controller component 904 can contain a timer component 924that can identify time, track time, and/or manage time in relation tooperations of the aggregator component 900. For instance, the timercomponent 924 can identify and/or track an amount of time that haselapsed since the switching-priority lists were last redetermined orrecalculated. In some implementations, the timer component 924 canidentify and/or track time as a function of events, wherein, forexample, the timer component 924 can identify and/or track the number ofdispatches have occurred since the switching-priority lists were lastredetermined or recalculated. The timer component 924 can communicatethe amount of elapsed time or number of times an event (e.g., dispatch)has occurred to the scheduler component 922 and/or the dispatch managercomponent 916 to facilitate determining whether the switching-prioritylists are to be redetermined or recalculated.

The dispatch controller component 904 can include a feedback component926 that can monitor, detect, obtain, and/or receive feedbackinformation from, for example, an electric grid, another component(s) ofthe aggregator component 900, a charging station(s), an EV(s), etc., inrelation to operations of the aggregator component 900, such asdeterminations relating the switching-priority lists. The feedbackcomponent 926 can provide the feedback information to the schedulercomponent 922, dispatch manager component 916, analyzer component 906,and/or another component of the aggregator component 900, wherein one ormore of those components can use the feedback information to, forexample, facilitate dynamically determining whether a “turn on” list anda “turn off” list are to be recalculated or redetermined.

In some implementations, the aggregator component 900 also can include aprocessor component 928 that can operate in conjunction with the othercomponents (e.g., communicator component 902, dispatch controllercomponent 904, analyzer component 906, etc.) to facilitate performingthe various functions of the aggregator component 900. The processorcomponent 928 can employ one or more processors, microprocessors, orcontrollers that can process data, such as information relating tocharging of EVs, charging states of EVs, regulation signals,discretizing regulation signals, dispatch signals, respective prioritylevels or values of EVs, switching-priority lists, schedule periods forswitching-priority lists, feedback information, defined dispatchalgorithm, defined dispatch criterion(s), information relating to otheroperations of the aggregator component 900, and/or other information,etc., to facilitate controlling charging of EVs, controlling switchingof EVs between a charging state and a not-charging state, responding toa regulation signal, performing other functions or calculationsassociated with the defined dispatch algorithm, and/or performing otheroperations associated with the aggregator component 900, as more fullydisclosed herein. The processor component 928 can control data flowbetween the aggregator component 900 and other components (e.g.,charging station(s), EV(s), electric grid(s), processor(s), datastore(s), communication network(s) (e.g., Internet, intranet, local areanetwork (LAN), wireless network, etc.), computer-readable storage media,etc.) associated with the aggregator component 900.

The aggregator component 900 also can include a data store 930 that canstore data structures (e.g., user data, video content, metadata),instructions, procedures, and/or code structure(s) (e.g., modules,objects, hashes, classes) to facilitate performing or controllingoperations associated with the aggregator component 900. The data store930 also can store information relating to charging of EVs, chargingstates of EVs, regulation signals, discretizing regulation signals,dispatch signals, respective priority levels or values of EVs,switching-priority lists, schedule periods for switching-priority lists,feedback information, defined dispatch algorithm, defined dispatchcriterion(s), and/or information relating to other operations of theaggregator component 900, etc., to performing or controlling operations,associated with the aggregator component 900. The processor component928 can be coupled (e.g., through a memory bus) to the data store 930 inorder to store and retrieve information desired to operate and/or conferfunctionality, at least in part, to the components (e.g., communicatorcomponent 902, dispatch controller component 904, analyzer component906, etc.) of the aggregator component 900, and/or substantially anyother operational aspects of the aggregator component 900.

While the aggregator component 900 and the dispatch controller component904 depict certain components as being within the dispatch controllercomponent 904 and other components being separate from the dispatchcontroller component 904, the disclosed subject matter is not solimited. In accordance with various implementations, the components ofthe aggregator component 900 and dispatch controller component 904 canbe arranged and/or configured, as desired. For example, the analyzercomponent 906 can be located outside of the dispatch controllercomponent 904 and/or the communicator component 902 can be locatedwithin the dispatch controller component 904.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIGS. 10 and 11 as well as the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitableenvironment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject mattermay be implemented. While the subject matter has been described above inthe general context of computer-executable instructions of a computerprogram that runs on a computer and/or computers, those skilled in theart will recognize that the disclosed subject matter also may beimplemented in combination with other program modules. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures,etc. that can perform particular tasks and/or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods may be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, as well aspersonal computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., personal digitalassistant (PDA), phone, electronic tablet or pad, electronic gamingdevice, watch, etc.), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer orindustrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects may alsobe practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. However, some, if not all aspects of thedisclosed subject matter can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 10, a suitable environment 1000 (e.g., system1000) for implementing various aspects of the disclosed subject matterincludes a computer 1012. The computer 1012 includes a processing unit1014, a system memory 1016, and a system bus 1018. The system bus 1018can couple system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 1016 to the processing unit 1014. The processing unit 1014 can beany of various available processors. Dual microprocessors and othermultiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit1014.

The system bus 1018 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, Industrial StandardArchitecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA(EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus(USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and SmallComputer Systems Interface (SCSI).

The system memory 1016 includes volatile memory 1020 and nonvolatilememory 1022. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer1012, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory 1022. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1022 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory 1020 includes random accessmemory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way ofillustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such asstatic RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), doubledata rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM(SLDRAM), Rambus direct RAM (RDRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM),and Rambus dynamic RAM (RDRAM).

Computer 1012 also includes removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. FIG. 10 illustrates, forexample, a disk storage 1024. Disk storage 1024 includes, but is notlimited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tapedrive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100 drive, flash memory card, or memorystick. In addition, disk storage 1024 can include storage mediaseparately or in combination with other storage media including, but notlimited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROM device(CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RWDrive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitateconnection of the disk storage devices 1024 to the system bus 1018, aremovable or non-removable interface is typically used, such asinterface 1026.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 10 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described inthe suitable operating environment 1000. Such software includes anoperating system 1028. Operating system 1028, which can be stored ondisk storage 1024, acts to control and allocate resources of thecomputer system 1012. System applications 1030 take advantage of themanagement of resources by operating system 1028 through program modules1032 and program data 1034 stored either in system memory 1016 or ondisk storage 1024. It is to be appreciated that the claimed subjectmatter can be implemented with various operating systems or combinationsof operating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 1012 throughinput device(s) 1036. Input devices 1036 include, but are not limitedto, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 1014through the system bus 1018 via interface port(s) 1038. Interfaceport(s) 1038 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1040 usesome of the same type of ports as input device(s) 1036. Thus, forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 1012, andto output information from computer 1012 to an output device 1040.Output adapter 1042 is provided to illustrate that there are some outputdevices 1040 like monitors, speakers, and printers, among other outputdevices 1040, which require special adapters. The output adapters 1042include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide a means of connection between the output device 1040and the system bus 1018. It should be noted that other devices and/orsystems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such asremote computer(s) 1044.

Computer 1012 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1044. The remote computer(s) 1044 can be a personal computer, a server,a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance,a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to computer1012. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1046 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1044. Remote computer(s) 1044 islogically connected to computer 1012 through a network interface 1048and then physically connected via communication connection 1050. Networkinterface 1048 encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networkssuch as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LANtechnologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), CopperDistributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ring and the like.WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links,circuit switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks(ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and DigitalSubscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 1050 refers to the hardware/softwareemployed to connect the network interface 1048 to the bus 1018. Whilecommunication connection 1050 is shown for illustrative clarity insidecomputer 1012, it can also be external to computer 1012. Thehardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 1048includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and externaltechnologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems,cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

In some implementations, the system 1000 also can include an aggregatorcomponent 1005 (referred to in FIG. 10 as “agg. comp. 1005), which caninclude a dispatch controller component (e.g., dispatch controllercomponent 120 (not shown in FIG. 10; as depicted in FIG. 1). Theaggregator component 1005 can control switching of EVs in a V2Genvironment to facilitate controlling power generation and managingvariations of load demand for an electric grid in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, as morefully disclosed herein.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment1100 with which the subject specification can interact. The system 1100includes one or more client(s) 1110. The client(s) 1110 can be hardwareand/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). Thesystem 1100 also includes one or more server(s) 1130. Thus, system 1100can correspond to a two-tier client server model or a multi-tier model(e.g., client, middle tier server, data server), amongst other models.The server(s) 1130 can also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The servers 1130 can house threads toperform transformations by employing the disclosed subject matter, forexample. One possible communication between a client 1110 and a server1130 may be in the form of a data packet transmitted between two or morecomputer processes.

The system 1100 includes a communication framework 1150 that can beemployed to facilitate communications between the client(s) 1110 and theserver(s) 1130. The client(s) 1110 are operatively connected to one ormore client data store(s) 1120 that can be employed to store informationlocal to the client(s) 1110. Similarly, the server(s) 1130 areoperatively connected to one or more server data store(s) 1140 that canbe employed to store information local to the servers 1130.

The aforementioned systems and/or devices have been described withrespect to interaction between several components. It should beappreciated that such systems and components can include thosecomponents or sub-components specified therein, some of the specifiedcomponents or sub-components, and/or additional components.Sub-components could also be implemented as components communicativelycoupled to other components rather than included within parentcomponents. Further yet, one or more components and/or sub-componentsmay be combined into a single component providing aggregatefunctionality. The components may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein for the sake of brevity,but known by those of skill in the art.

It is to be appreciated and understood that components (e.g., aggregatorcomponent, dispatch controller component, charging station, EV, etc.),as described with regard to a particular system or method, can includethe same or similar functionality as respective components (e.g.,respectively named components or similarly named components) asdescribed with regard to other systems or methods disclosed herein.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “interface,” “node”, and the like, can refer to and/or caninclude a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operationalmachine with one or more specific functionalities. The entitiesdisclosed herein can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application runningon a server and the server can be a component. One or more componentsmay reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a componentmay be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. Also, these components can execute from various computerreadable media having various data structures stored thereon. Thecomponents may communicate via local and/or remote processes such as inaccordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal).

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. Moreover, articles “a” and “an” as used in thesubject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form.

As it employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or devicecomprising, but not limited to comprising, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures suchas, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors,switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhanceperformance of user equipment. A processor also can be implemented as acombination of computing processing units.

Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, allows connection to the Internet from acouch at home, a bed in a hotel room, or a conference room at work,without wires. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology similar to that used in acell phone that enables such devices, e.g., computers, to send andreceive data indoors and out; anywhere within the range of a basestation. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b,g, n, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. AWi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to theInternet, and to wireline networks (which use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet).Wi-Fi networks typically operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radiobands, at an 11 Mbps (802.11b) or a 54 Mbps (802.11a) data rate, forexample, or with products that contain both bands (dual band), so thenetworks can provide real-world performance similar to the basic“10BaseT” wireline Ethernet networks used in many offices.

In the subject specification, terms such as “data store,” data storage,”“database,” and substantially any other information storage componentrelevant to operation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. For example, information relevant to operation of variouscomponents described in the disclosed subject matter, and that can bestored in a memory, can comprise, but is not limited to comprising,subscriber information; cell configuration (e.g., devices served by anAP) or service policies and specifications; privacy policies; and soforth. It will be appreciated that the memory components describedherein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or caninclude both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration,and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory(ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), phase change memory (PCM), flashmemory, or nonvolatile RAM (e.g., ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM)). Volatilememory can include random access memory (RAM), which acts as externalcache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM isavailable in many forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM(DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM),enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM(DRRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems ormethods herein are intended to comprise, without being limited tocomprising, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques. The term “article of manufacture” as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structureddata, or unstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include,but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory (e.g., card,stick, key drive . . .) or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. Computer-readable storage media can be accessed byone or more local or remote computing devices, e.g., via accessrequests, queries or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety ofoperations with respect to the information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changedin such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

What has been described above includes examples of systems and methodsthat provide advantages of the disclosed subject matter. It is, ofcourse, not possible to describe every conceivable combination ofcomponents or methods for purposes of describing the claimed subjectmatter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that manyfurther combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter arepossible. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,”“possesses,” and the like are used in the detailed description, claims,appendices and drawings such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a processor, coupled to amemory, that executes or facilitates execution of executable components,comprising: a dispatch controller component that controls switching ofrespective electric vehicles (EVs) of a group of EVs associated with anelectric grid between an on state and an off state during a time period,based at least in part on respective priority levels determined for therespective EVs, wherein the dispatch controller component redeterminesthe respective priority levels of the respective EVs in response to anoccurrence of a condition relating to at least one of a number of EVdispatches, an elapsed time since a previous determination or a previousredetermination of the respective priority levels, or feedbackinformation associated with the respective EVs, the feedback informationbeing received from the electric grid, an aggregator component, acharging station, or an EV; wherein the dispatch controller componentgenerates a first switching-priority group comprising a first subgroupof EVs of the group of EVs, and a second switching-priority groupcomprising a second subgroup of EVs of the group of EVs, wherein thefirst subgroup of EVs are associated with a first subgroup of prioritylevels and the second subgroup of EVs are associated with a secondsubgroup of priority levels.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the onstate is a charging state, wherein at least one EV of the firstswitching-priority group is being charged by the electric grid, whereinthe off state is a not-charging state, and wherein at least one other EVthat is in the second switching-priority group is not being charged bythe electric grid.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the dispatchcontroller component determines the respective priority levels of therespective EVs, wherein a first portion of EVs of the group of EVs areincluded in the first switching-priority group in response to adetermination that the first portion of EVs have higher priority levelsthan a second portion of EVs of the group of EVs, and wherein the secondportion of EVs are included in the second switching-priority group basedat least in part on being determined to have lower priority levels thanthe first portion of EVs.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the dispatchcontroller component discretizes a regulation signal into incrementsthat are attainable by switching of charging states of individual EVs ofthe group of EVs, and determines a number of EVs of the group of EVs tobe used to follow the regulation signal based at least in part on anamount of energy to be used to follow the regulation signal, wherein theregulation signal is received from a power system associated with theelectric grid.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the dispatch controllercomponent determines the amount of energy as a function of the definedoperating point associated with an aggregator component and theregulation signal, wherein the aggregator component aggregates the groupof EVs associated with the electric grid.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the first subgroup of EVs comprises a third subgroup of EVs,wherein the second subgroup of EVs comprises a fourth subgroup of EVs,wherein, in response to receiving a regulation signal associated withthe electric grid, the dispatch controller component communicates atleast one switching signal to at least one of the third subgroup of EVsor the fourth subgroup of EVs to facilitate switching at least one ofthe third subgroup of EVs or the fourth subgroup of EVs between the onstate and the off state, to facilitate adhering to the regulationsignal, and wherein the dispatch controller component at least one of:moves the third subgroup of EVs to the second subgroup of EVs to includethe third subgroup of EVs in the second switching-priority group, ormoves the fourth subgroup of EVs to the first subgroup of EVs to includethe fourth subgroup of EVs in the first switching-priority group.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the at least one signal facilitates switchingthe fourth subgroup of EVs to the off state, wherein, in response tomoving the fourth subgroup of EVs to the first subgroup of EVs toinclude the fourth subgroup of EVs in the first switching-prioritygroup, the dispatch controller component ranks the fourth subgroup ofEVs, in priority, below other of the respective EVs of the firstswitching priority group, and wherein the dispatch controller componentranks the respective EVs of the first switching-priority group inaccordance with the respective priority levels of the respective EVs ofthe first switching-priority group.
 8. A system, comprising: aprocessor, coupled to a memory, that executes or facilitates executionof executable components, comprising: a dispatch controller componentthat controls switching of respective electric vehicles (EVs) of a groupof EVs associated with an electric grid between an on state and an offstate during a time period, based at least in part on respectivepriority levels determined for the respective EVs, wherein the dispatchcontroller component redetermines the respective priority levels of therespective EVs in response to an occurrence of a condition relating toat least one of a number of EV dispatches, an elapsed time since aprevious determination or a previous redetermination of the respectivepriority levels, or feedback information associated with the respectiveEVs, the feedback information being received from the electric grid, anaggregator component, a charging station, or an EV; wherein the dispatchcontroller component determines a dispatch percentage of an EV of thegroup of EVs, and determines a priority level of the EV based at leastin part on a dispatch error between a dispatch of the EV at a definedpoint in the scheduling period and a target dispatch of the EV, andwherein the dispatch error is determined as a function of the dispatchpercentage.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the dispatch controllercomponent redetermines the respective priority levels of the respectiveEVs at least one of after a defined number of dispatches have been madeto at least some EVs of the group of EVs, a defined period of time haselapsed since the determination or the redetermination of the respectivepriority levels of the respective EVs, or based at least in part onfeedback information obtained from at least one of the electric grid,one or more EVs of the group of EVs, a charging station associated withthe one or more EVs, or an aggregator component that aggregates thegroup of EVs associated with the electric grid.
 10. A method,comprising: with respect to a set of electric vehicles (EVs) associatedwith an electric grid, controlling, by a system comprising a processor,switching of at least a portion of respective EVs of the set of EVsbetween a charging state and a not-charging state during a period oftime, based at least in part on respective priority levels calculatedfor the respective EVs; and recalculating, by the system, the respectivepriority levels of the respective EVs based at least in part on anoccurrence of a condition relating to at least one of a number of EVdispatches, an elapsed amount of time since a previous calculation or aprevious recalculation of the respective priority levels, or feedbackinformation associated with the respective EVs, the feedback informationbeing received from the electric grid, an aggregator component, acharging station, or an EV; generating, by the system, a first groupcomprising a first subset of EVs and a second group comprising a secondsubset of EVs of the set of EVs, based at least in part on therespective priority levels of the respective EVs, wherein the firstsubset of EVs are associated with a first subset of priority levels andthe second subset of EVs are associated with a second subset of prioritylevels.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining, bythe system, the respective priority levels of the respective EVs,wherein the first subset of EVs of the first group are in the chargingstate and are available to be switched to the not-charging state, andthe second subset of EVs of the second group are in the not-chargingstate and are available to be switched to the charging state, whereinthe generating further comprises generating the first group and thesecond group based at least in part on the respective priority levels ofthe respective EVs, and wherein a defined number of EVs of the set ofEVs, having higher priority levels relative to other EVs of the set ofEVs, are included in the first group and the other EVs, having lowerpriority levels than the defined number of EVs, are included in thesecond group.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:discretizing, by the system, a regulation signal associated with theelectric grid into increments as a function of attainable switching ofcharging states of the respective EVs of the set of EVs; anddetermining, by the system, a number of EVs of the set of EVs to be usedto follow the regulation signal.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein thefirst subset of EVs comprises a third subset of EVs, wherein the secondsubset of EVs comprises a fourth subset of EVs, and wherein the methodfurther comprises: in response to receiving a regulation signalassociated with the electric grid, to facilitate following theregulation signal, transmitting, by the system, at least one switchingsignal to at least one of the third subset of EVs or the fourth subsetof EVs to facilitate switching at least one of the third subset of EVsor the fourth subset of EVs between the charging state and thenot-charging state; and at least one of: moving, by the system, thethird subset of EVs to the second subset of EVs to include the third setof EVs in the second group, or moving, by the system, the fourth subsetof EVs to the first subset of EVs to include the fourth subset of EVs inthe first group.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:facilitating, by the system, switching the fourth subset of EVs to thenot-charging state based at least in part on the at least one switchingsignal; and in response to moving the fourth subset of EVs to the firstsubset of EVs to include the fourth subset of EVs in the first group,ranking, by the system, the fourth subset of EVs in priority below otherof the respective EVs of the first group, wherein the respective EVs ofthe first group are ranked in accordance with the respective prioritylevels of the respective EVs of the first group.
 15. A method,comprising: with respect to a set of electric vehicles (EVs) associatedwith an electric grid, controlling, by a system comprising a processor,switching of at least a portion of respective EVs of the set of EVsbetween a charging state and a not-charging state during a period oftime, based at least in part on respective priority levels calculatedfor the respective EVs, and recalculating, by the system, the respectivepriority levels of the respective EVs based at least in part on anoccurrence of a condition relating to at least one of a number of EVdispatches, an clasped amount of time since a previous calculation or aprevious recalculation of the respective priority levels, or feedbackinformation associated with the respective EVs, the feedback informationbeing received from the electric grid, an aggregator component, acharging station, or an EV, determining, by the system, a dispatchpercentage of an EV of the set of EVs; and determining, by the system, adispatch error between a dispatch of the EV to a defined point in timeand a target dispatch of the EV as a function of the dispatchpercentage.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the recalculatingcomprises recalculating the respective priority levels of the respectiveEVs at least one of after a defined number of dispatches have been madeto some EVs of the set of EVs, a defined period of time has elapsedsince the calculation or the recalculation of the respective prioritylevels, or dynamically based at least in part on feedback informationobtained from at least one of the electric grid, one or more EVs of theset of EVs, a charging station associated with the one or more EVs ofthe set of EVs, or an aggregator component associated with the set ofEVs.
 17. A machine-readable storage non-transitory medium storingexecutable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a systemincluding at least one processor to perform operations, comprising: tofacilitate charging of respective electric vehicles (EVs) associatedwith an electric grid, controlling transitioning of a portion of therespective EVs between a charging state and a not-charging state duringa time period, based at least in part on respective priority levelsdetermined for the respective EVs; and redetermining the respectivepriority levels of the respective EVs in response to an occurrence of atleast one condition relating to at least one of a number of EVdispatches, an elapsed time since a previous determination or a previousredetermination of the respective priority levels, or feedbackinformation associated with the respective EVs, the feedback informationbeing received from the electric grid, an aggregator component, acharging station, or an EV; generating a first group comprising a firstsubset of the respective EVs and a second group comprising a secondsubset of the respective EVs, based at least in part on the respectivepriority levels of the respective EVs, wherein the first subset of EVsis associated with a first subset of priority levels and the secondsubset of EVs is associated with a second subset of priority levelshaving lower priority levels than the first subset of priority levels;and communicating a switching signal to an EV of at least one of thefirst subset of EVs or the second subset of EVs to facilitate switchingthe EV between the charging state and the not-charging state at duringthe time period.